A Kenyan police officer who was on patrol with the worldwide safety pressure in Haiti has been killed in a confrontation with gang members.
The officer is the primary casualty suffered by the Kenyan-led Multinational Safety Assist mission (MSS).
The pressure was despatched to Haiti in June final yr to assist restore order to the nation, the place gangs have seized management of virtually your entire capital, Port-au-Prince, in addition to massive swathes of rural areas.
Greater than 5,500 individuals have been killed in gang-related violence in Haiti in 2024 and greater than one million individuals have fled their properties.
The commander of the multinational pressure, Gen Godfrey Otunge, stated the Kenyan police officer had been injured in Artibonite, a area north of the capital.
Gen Otunge stated the officer, who has not been named, had been instantly airlifted to hospital, the place he died a short time later.
Jack Ombaka, the spokesman for the MSS, stated in a press release despatched to Reuters information company that the officer was a “fallen hero” who “was killed whereas preventing for the individuals of Haiti”, whereas Kenya’s international ministry stated it was “heartbroken by the loss” of the officer.
Mr Ombaka stated the officer had been shot by a gang member throughout a safety operation within the city of Pont-Sondé.
He added that the multinational pressure would “pursue these gangs to the final man standing”.
The MSS was boosted earlier this month by the arrival of a further 200 Kenyan cops, however the pressure is outgunned and outmanned by the gangs, which proceed to arm themselves with highly effective weapons illegally smuggled from the US.
The way forward for the multinational pressure – which additionally has officers from Bahamas, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and Jamaica amongst its ranks – was thrown into doubt some weeks in the past when the Trump administration ordered a freeze on international help programmes.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later accepted a waiver for US funds destined for the MSS and Haiti’s Nationwide Police, however it’s not but clear whether or not the US authorities helps turning the MSS right into a UN peacekeeping operation, which might make its funding safer.
